Many different systems and arrangements have been proposed over the years for harvesting and collecting sap from trees. Sap is generally harvested using spouts, also sometimes referred to as splines, which are inserted into corresponding tapped holes made on the trunks of trees. The sap flows out of the trees through the spouts and is further collected thereafter. Some implementations use buckets or the like in which the sap can drip by gravity and accumulate underneath the spouts. However, most commercial implementations now use a network of sap collecting conduits operable under vacuum conditions. The sap flowing out of each spout is carried by the network of conduits to a given destination, for example a sap processing unit or to a sap storage unit. The sap processing unit and/or the sap storage unit can be located in a sugarhouse, for instance. The vacuum conditions can be created using, for example, one or more air pumps provided at or near the downstream end of the network of conduits. Variants are possible as well.
Once collected, water can be removed from the sap to concentrate the high-sugar content therein and the concentrated sap can be transformed into various products. For instance, most of the sap from sugar maple trees of a sugar bush can be transformed into food products such as maple syrup. A similar process can be carried out using sap from other kinds of trees, for instance yellow birch, cherry birch, hickory, basswood, etc. Maple trees are thus not the only kinds of trees from which sap could be collected.
Some sugar bushes may include a sap collecting network having one or more main tube or pipes (hereafter generically referred to as a “main conduit”) to which are coupled a number of flexible tubings of smaller diameter so to create fluid circuits establishing a fluid communication between the various spouts located in the sugar bush and a downstream end of the main conduit. In use, when the interior of the main conduit is under vacuum conditions, the sap flowing out of a tree through a corresponding spout enters a fluid circuit including one or more flexible tubings ending into the main conduit at a corresponding tapping hole. These flexible tubings have one end portion that is sealingly attached to the tapping hole. The flexible conduits can extend between a single spout and the main conduit or, more often, be part of a subsection of the network where a number of flexible tubings having one or more embranchments interconnect a plurality of spouts to the last flexible tubing of the subsection.
The total number of tapping holes in a single sap collecting network can be quite large when the size of the sugar bush is relatively important. The total costs of the hardware required for sealingly attaching the end portions of flexible tubings to a main conduit of the network can require a substantial upfront investment, especially for medium and large scale sugar bushes, considering the number of connectors involved. Still, it is always desirable to minimize the time and the complexity for making each connection so as to lower the operational costs.
Another challenge is that vacuum pumps that are available for use on a network of conduits are increasingly powerful. The negative pressures created by some of these vacuum pumps are now about twice what was possible to obtain a few years ago. These high vacuum conditions require the use of better connectors and related hardware. The small air leaks at the various junctions, for instance between the main conduit at the junctions of mating parts, can cause bacteria to enter. Small air leaks can also cause the sap to freeze when operating slightly under a freezing temperature and therefore prevent some sections of the network, or even the entire network, from working.
Existing arrangements are not entirely satisfactory. For instance, some are too costly and/or difficult to manufacture, some are too difficult to install and/or require too much time for completing each connection, and/or some are not capable of providing an optimum sealing between the parts under high vacuum conditions.
Clearly, room for many improvements still exists in this technical area.